Specialty First Aid Kit

Are you ready for these unusual threats?

Before we get to our specialty first aid kit discussion, here are a couple of safety rules to live by:

Do not allow a large knife to fall handle first into the garbage disposal while the disposal is running.

What you will discover, if all the stars are aligned, is that that knife will fly out of the disposal and scythe its way through the kitchen, slicing anybody in its path.

In our case, the person in the way was Joe. Specifically, the back of his right hand. (Do not ask for more details.)

And here’s another rule based on personal experience plus a LinkedIn post I read earlier this week:

Assume that, as you set up for an important business presentation, the hinge of a piece of equipment will strike back, gouging a nice chunk out of a finger.

Not exactly everyday accidents, but not unheard of, either! Certainly, breaking the first rule, and then reading about the second rule, made us rethink our own first aid kits — and consider at least one specialty first aid kit as our next project.

Have you considered the state of your own first aid kits?

Where are they?

If you are at home when the wayward knife strikes, your first aid kit is probably in the bathroom. So before you head there to get it, you grab a clean dish towel or a handful of paper towels, and tell the injured person to “apply pressure” to keep more blood off the floor.

If you are in the conference room of a client when the equipment attacks, you may have NO first aid kit handy!

 You certainly don’t have a dish towel and probably don’t have paper towels, either!  (Maybe there will be some napkins over on the table with the coffee.) You grip your bleeding hand with the other hand, getting both of them covered with blood.

Now, if you’ve been through a CERT course, you may have a first aid kit in your car, which is about 2 blocks away in a parking structure. In this case, 2 blocks away is too far away!

How about adding a specialty first aid kit?

Since experts seem to agree that the kitchen and the bathroom are the two most dangerous rooms in the house, why not have kits in each room?

A kitchen kit

In the kitchen, cuts and burns are probably your most likely emergencies.  Your kitchen kit has to have the necessary to respond for all sizes of each.

In our case, a simple band aid wasn’t adequate for the cut on Joe’s hand. And the cut seemed too deep for that handy liquid skin.  We needed to stop the bleeding and close the cut. So, we used folded gauze and several strips of tape, cut to fit. (Which means we had to have scissors, too.)

So, our new kitchen kit will include all those, plus band aids and burn spray.

Traveling kit for business meetings

Our event planning list always has a tool box (for larger events) and a first aid kit. But that’s when we expected a team to be in action.

Now even our smaller meetings – at least, those with presentations! – will contain a specialty first aid kit for pinches, gouges and scrapes! It needs to be small enough to fit into a tote or briefcase.

I picture a ziploc bag with essentials: gauze, tape, band aids, antiseptic cream.  And from the LinkedIn post that I mentioned, this great idea: a RED washcloth to absorb and/or wipe up blood and make it less noticeable!

Your “master” first aid kit — that one in the bathroom — can have dozens of items, depending on your location, your skill level, etc. The list below has suggestions for one of the simpler specialty first aid kits described here.

What do you need for YOUR kits?

Of course, by now you may have thought of a specialty first aid kit that YOU need – like for the kids’ sporting events, or for the woodshop, etc. Each kit might need other items, but you can start with the list below, and have them assembled and IN PLACE with little delay. Click on the image to go to Amazon where you’ll find other styles and sizes.

1-A selection of band aids. These are fabric, which I think holds better than paper.

2-Liquid skin is great stuff. (Some people use crazy glue, but I prefer the “official” item!) Use when a bandaid will get in the way, get dirty, or can’t cover the scrape. This is a pack of two.

3-Gauze pads for cleaning, absorbing. They come in sterile and in non-sterile packs.

4--Antibacterial cream. You probably already have a tube or two of your favorite cream. This one is ours.

5-Spray for burns. Comes in a pressurized can, like this, or in a pump version. If you’re building a specialized first aid kit that will be traveling a lot, you might prefer the pump version.

6-First aid tape comes in different widths, made of different materials, can be self-adhesive, etc. This one is basic, breathable and works pretty well for any use.

7-You may already have scissors at home, too. For your traveling kit you’d want a small, slim pair like these.

I don’t always show prices, but in this case I was trying to show that with a relatively modest outlay you can have WHAT YOU NEED – in the kitchen and in your briefcase — to stop the bleeding, relieve pain, and take the first steps to get the situation back to normal.

If you already have a good supply of everything you need, just divide things up and you’ll be set! Otherwise, grab a couple of the missing items and complete each specialty first aid kit on your list. It will be worth it!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Update from March 7. Following my own advice from last month, I went out last week and added a can of first aid disinfectant spray to my new kitchen first aid kit. I have already used it twice when I grabbed a hot pot handle with bare fingers. You can also get mini-sized sprayers, perfect for your purse or key ring. Click on one of these recommendations from Amazon and shop there to see what might fit your kitchen needs.

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